Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Histoire moderne--Bordeaux 3, 2008. Titre de soutenance : La réception des édits de pacification à Bordeaux et en Guyenne au cours des guerres de religion : 1562-1600. / Bibliogr. p. 418-433. Notes bibliogr.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the principal challenges to royal authority and the means by which royal authority was maintained in France during the first War of Religion (1561-1563). The latter half of the sixteenth century was a critical period for the French monarchy. Great noble families attempted to re-establish their feudal power at the expense of the crown. Francis II and Charles IX, kings who were merely boys, succeeded strong monarchs on the throne. The kingdom was impoverished by foreign wars and overrun by veteran soldiers, ill-absorbed into civil life. Calvinism spread rapidly and became not only a religious but a political movement drawing ideological and organizational support from Geneva. The powerful Hapsburg monarch, Philip II, watched affairs in France with a suspicious eye and frequently manipulated matters affecting the French court. Not only were his border territories in the Pyrenees threatened but the Spanish king rightly feared that religious division in France would have repercussions in his rich low country territories. The province of Guyenne was chosen as a setting for this study because it was the province of the first prince of the blood, it was close to the Spanish kingdom, it had a history of concern for local prerogatives, and it had a large number of Huguenot believers and congregations. Not least among the reasons for choosing Guyenne in which to study royal government was the availability of abundant documentary sources. This thesis is based primarily upon the examination of memoirs and correspondence. Most important of the memoirs are those of Blaise de Monluc, lieutenant-general of Guyenne. The critical edition of these together with a biography and a study of the historical accuracy and significance of Monluc Commentaires have been prepared by Professor Paul Courteault. Among the documents available is the extensive correspondence of Catherine de Medicis, the letters of Antoine de Bourbon, those of Monluc, and many letters of Charles IX and of provincial officers. Royal government in France was not based on a financial, administrative or military foundation adequate for the king to force his will upon his subjects. Interest groups allied to the king had popularized an ideology of royal authority which served royal interests. Personal contact with his subjects, especially with the nobility enhanced royal authority. The basis of royal government, however, was the goodwill and co-operation of individuals in positions of influence. King Charles IX and Catherine de Medicis, the queen mother, constantly sought to gain and maintain such goodwill and support. They granted offices and honours which carried with them the opportunity of professional advancement and personal enrichment. An extensive correspondence tended to maintain their knowledge of affairs throughout the kingdom and their influence over their subjects. Nevertheless they had to balance individual noble against noble, faction against faction, Parlement against governor in constant negotiation to maintain royal authority. The identification of the personnel who represented the king in Guyenne reveals ways in which provincial resources could be mobilized for the crown and against the crown. In a period of civil war the military organization of the royal army within the province was of critical importance particularly when the army was largely local. Local notables appointed officers, recruited soldiers and commanded the forces. Just as important to the crown were the financial institutions of the province. As with the military institutions, it is essential to determine the ways in which those institutions facilitated royal government and the ways in which they could be made to serve the particular interests of individuals and groups other than the crown. The designation "absolute" as applied to the sixteenth-century French monarchy must be somewhat qualified as a result of an examination of the functioning of local and provincial institutions: voluntary (leagues), representative (Estates) and appointed (Parlement). It is to the nature of that monarchy that the present study is addressed. The province of Guyenne and the first years of civil war provide the historical setting. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

L’activité du port de Bordeaux en plein essor au XVIIIe siècle est bien connue des historiens modernistes. Paradoxalement, les développements consacrés aux professionnels embarqués sur les gréements sont plus rares, alors qu’une telle étude a déjà été réalisée pour la capitale de la Guyenne à la fin du Moyen-âge. Parmi les « gens de mer » demeurés dans l’ombre, les capitaines de navire se démarquent à plus d’un titre. Par la charge symbolique mais aussi juridique que revêt la fonction, en premier lieu, dans le convoi des hommes et des marchandises au-delà des océans. Par le champ de compétences étendu que recouvre la profession, ensuite. Les commandants de bord doivent en effet non seulement être en capacité de piloter un bâtiment au long cours, mais en outre diriger un équipage bigarré, tout en versant dans le commerce au moment jugé le plus opportun. Les capitaines apparaissent ainsi comme des acteurs incontournables des échanges maritimes à l'époque moderne, cernés par un océan d’archives dont l’importance des fonds conservés à Bordeaux, en dépit des ravages du temps, rend parfaitement compte. Par les perspectives de mobilité sociale offertes par le métier, en dernier lieu. Affiliée aux négociants avec lesquels elle partage une même communauté de vues et de pratiques, contrôlant l’information, brouillant les pistes entre les acteurs de l’échange, la figure du « capitaine-géreur » placée à la tête des expéditions maritimes ou paradant parmi les cercles mondains révèle une confusion des genres pouvant induire des changements d’état. Il s’agit de déterminer si le négoce à temps plein constitue un horizon accessible puis pérenne, parmi d’autres opportunités de reconversion à portée du groupe. Alors que le commerce colonial et négrier assure la prospérité de la capitale de la Guyenne, c’est l’identité de la profession via sa capacité à se fondre parmi les élites urbaines qui questionne, de la Régence à la Révolution française. / Modern historians have good knowledge of the 18th century growth of Bordeaux harbour activity. But works about crew members are scarce while paradoxically such a study had already been led for the « Guyenne » capital as early as in the end of the Middle Ages. Ship commanders stand out from all other rather discreet socio-professional categories related to sailors for many reasons : first, because of the symbolical and legal dimension of their occupation which implies their responsibility whenever it comes to the transportation of men and goods ; secondly, because of their huge fields of expertise, like to be able to steer boats over long distance, to handle crews of dozens of members or to carry out commercial transactions ; last, but not least, because of the social mobility offered by their position. Highly documented in a rich archive collection kept and preserved in Bordeaux, captains have turned into key players of the maritime trade of the modern era. By frequently working and diverting themselves with traders and ship owners, they developed a trusting relationship with them. The question is to determine how this cooperation was shaped, and to know if trading or ship armament were possible career changes within the reach of captains, and if not, how they could integrate the urban elites at work under the « Ancien Régime ». When the colonial and slave trade ensured the Bordeaux harbour’s prosperity, it is the identity of the merchant navy ship commanders working from the capital of « Guyenne » that will be here studied, from the Regency to the French Revolution.